Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Romans 12:2a ESV)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Building for Earthquakes

A building that is made to (try and) withstand earthquakes is not build with rigid stability, but rather flexible design; structurally soft if you will, not iron clad. I was reminded of that today during prayer as I read this passage:

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV)

You can call it a struggle, or you can call it a blessing, but stress often triggers heart palpitations for me. A struggle in the obvious ways that it gets scary or distracting (more distracting lately as I’ve been dealing with them for years so most of the scare is gone), but a blessing in a way that it most definitely is a sign to me that I am struggling with something, or not dealing with something properly. However after this passage (once I’ve read many times) it’s clear to me that I most definitely still have a heart of stone in many respects. Something major, or even something simple can trigger my internal earthquakes. The more I’m connected to Him, the softer my heart is and the better I deal with my internal earthquakes. However the more life seems to get me derailed (business, life issues, etc.) the more I try to do things on my own and my heart starts hardening up again. Then even the little tremors can set off some fractures in my heart.

Yet …

When I see I’ve made some wrong turns, and find my way back to Him, that heart of flesh is there waiting for me. My life didn’t suddenly become less busy, my issues didn’t suddenly disappear … it’s just because I was able to give more to Him so that He can carry those burdens for me.

It’s crazy that I still stray more often than I want to admit, and still try to do things on my own … I know the routine … I know the peace that comes with Him … I know the joy … and my prayer is that I continue to learn from my mistakes, and will be lured away from Him less and less.

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Kevin De Young on Christianity

"We often hear that all religions are basically the same in that they all encourage us to love our neighbors, help the poor, forgive others, and generally be kind, compassionate people. Even if this were true (which it isn't when you get down to specifics), it would miss the point, because Christianity is not a religion mainly about a moral code to keep. Christianity is about a God who saves people who don't keep the moral code." - Kevin De Young

C.S. Lewis on Jesus

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."